Floor jack



Paie-mea oa. 7, 1924.

istante CHARLES w. coorEa/or RICHLAND CENTER, WISCONSIN.

FLOOR JACK.

'Application filed March 17, 1924. Serial N0.`699,804. y.

T 0 all whom t may' concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLns W. Coornn, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Richland Center, in the county (nf-Richland, State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Floor Jack; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to floor jacks and has for its object to provide a device of this character which is simple in construction, compact and easily applied to flooring lfor forcing the adjacent strips of tongue and grooved material into close engagement with each other, and holding the boards in such a position during the nailing thereof, thereby insuring close joints between the boards and eliminating cracks.

A further object is to provide a floor jack comprising a U-shaped frame having slidably mounted on its arms a tongue receiving member with which a cam cooperates for forcingl the same outwardly against the action of springs, the other end of said U- shaped frame is provided with prongs adapted to imbed in a support, for instance a subfiooring for preventing movement of the frame during the floor jacking operation.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawing, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a topl plan view of the floor jack, showing the same in position for use.

Figure 2 is a side elevation o'f the floor j ack.

Figure 3 is a vertical longitudinal. sectional view taken online 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the U-shaped vframe of the device, which frame has its arms 2 in par-allel relation. Arms 2 of the yU-shaped frame are slidably mounted in apertures 3 of the slidable board engaging block 4, which block is adapted t-o be forced outwardly on said arms as guides. The rear end of the frame 1 is provided with downwardly and rearwardly extending prongs 5, which prongs are adapted `to be embedded in the subflooring or any other support' as shown in Figure 1 'for forcingthe strip of flooring 6 into close engagement with'the adjacent strip of lflooring 7.. The outer face of lthe slidable block 4 is provided with a longitudinally disposed groove 8, which receives the tongue 9 of the strip of flooring 6, therefore it will be seen that when the block 4 is forced outwardly the strip .of flooring 6 will be forced outwardly into close engagement with the strip 7. y

Secured to the arms 2 of the U-shaped frame is a transversely disposed bracket 10, which is preferably U-shaped and upwardly extending, which bracket is provided with a vertically disposed bolt`11, on which is pivotally mounted a cam 12. The lower end of the bolt 11 extends through a bar 13 carried by the arms 2 thereby forming a rigid 1 support for the bolt. The cam 12 when partially rotated engages the rear side of the block 4 substantially centrally thereof and forces the same outwardly against the action of the coiled springs 14, one end of which is secured at 15 to the block 4 and the other ends at 16 to the arms 2 of the U- shaped frame, thereforeit will be seen that upon rotation of the cam 12 in one direction, the springs 14 will return the block 4 to inoperative position. Cam 12 is provided with a socket eX-tension 17, in which a handle ymember 18 maybe placed, which handle member may be of anyv length desired, thereby allowing a powerful leverage when the handle is long. The forward side of the block 4 is provided with cutaway recesses 19 centrally thereof and at its ends, thereby allowing nails to be easily driven through the piece of flooring 6 and into the subliooring, in the usual manner, which nailing action takes place after the cam has forced the block 4 outwardly.

From the above it will be seen that a floor jack is provided, which jack is simple in construction, positive in its operation, and the parts reduced to a minimum. It will also beenseen that the block is slidably mounted on the arms of the U-shaped frame, which arms are in parallel relation to each other, thereby forming a rigid structure, and the U-shaped frame adjacent its curved end is provided with downwardly and rearwardly extending prongs, one of which is on the longitudinal center line ofthe frame and the others equfstant from. said @enter line and centrally oit the arms, thereby preventing side displacement of the device during the operation thereof.

The invention having been set forth what is claimed as new and useful is A floor ack comprising a U-shaped frame having its arms in parallel relation, a slidable block, said slidable block being provided with transversely disposed apertures in which the arms of the U-shaped frame are slidably mounted, coiled springs connecting the ends of the block and the arms and forming means for normally forcing inwardly the block, a U-shaped frame carried by the upper side of the first mentioned U-shaped frame, a bar connecting the arms of the first-mentioned U-shaped frame, a pivot bolt carried by the second U-shaped frame and the bar, a cam pivotally mounted on said bolt, a handle member carried by said cam, and prongs carried by the underside of the U-shaped frame and adapted to be forced into a support.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence oi two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES 7. COOPER. lVitnesses JOHN W. KATZ, T. J. MARTIN. 

